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Sodor Classic Cars

Harry

Harry

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After many years of the opening date being unknown for when the Sodor cars opened to the public, thankfully I got in contact with one of the owners grandson who worked at Supercar to have a look at his completed project logbook and gratefully revealed at that it was in 1972 that the Sodor Cars opened to the public. The ride was constructed from the 16th February 1972 until the 13th March 1972. Six Ford 'T' Cars were built all in different colours, yellow, lime, green, red, blue, and orange.

With this new knowledge I've updated this website and Wikipedia as well as we now have the correct date.
 
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I make it as the 2nd oldest ride still in the park.
I was very surprised that it survived the Thomasland land makeover as it doesn’t really fit the theme but the queue is always full so can’t see it going unless they need to remove it to add a new Thomas ride.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Sodor classic cars has been closed over the Feb half term I wonder if it’s getting new theming and scenes added for the 2019 main season.
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Nope! It's currently being fitted with new sensors and an upgraded ride system to allow for more cars to be on the track at the same time to increase throughput.

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remlap said:
Looks like an interesting upgrade. Are those infrared sensors on the front?
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They are indeed! Sodor Cars is getting some love this season, it appears they have fitted new sensors across the track to add new "blocks" essentially and they were fitting these to the cars. Towards the end of the day these were running and it was evident that the cars were stopping to clear the block before they entered the block - looks like they could be doing it to add more cars to the track eventually.
 
remlap said:
Interesting. So does anyone know how it used to work before then? Was there anything to prevent cars getting too close?
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Honestly, I'm not too sure. I imagine there was originally some methods to prevent it, however it's one of the oldest rides in the park so I'm not sure. I'll try and find out though, it's quite an interesting question.
 
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remlap said:
Interesting. So does anyone know how it used to work before then? Was there anything to prevent cars getting too close?
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On the Antique Cars I used to operate back at Gulliver's it had a sensor on the front and if the cars came in a radius too close it will stop the car until it has enough space. I assume this is what Sodor did originally and now it's been refitted with new proximity sensors?
 
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Themeparksandy1981 said:
I think they just left a big gap between releasing each car at a time. I think it really needs more Thomasland theming added to the ride.
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i can’t say I ever remember sensors in them before. When I was there on Saturday it was still being worked on. Looks like there are strips of reflectors on the back of each car so it makes sense they’re infrared sensors. Im assuming it’s to maintain distance or stop a car if it gets too close.

I remember during Christmas and half term they started having a member of staff sitting in the middle of the ride by the hedge, any idea why this was needed and are the upgrades related?
 
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The refurbishment work on Sodor Cars appears to be nearing completion from our observations! The park seem to have weights in place for weight testing and the work area appears to be being cleaned up. Photos taken 11/04/19.

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